colonists have adapted;
Navy men are fit enough to walk easily;
civilian freighter crews tire and are afraid of falling.
Lowland Tigeries visiting the higher altitude of Olga's Landing wear air helmets or surgically installed oxygills.
The visiting Wodenite rumbles thunderous and accented but fluent Anglic and this touches on a point that I noticed when watching a Narnia film. When on screen an extraterrestrial or a Narnian Talking Beast speaks, the voice should not sound as if it has issued from the vocal organs of a human actor. How would a speaking lion, owl, Wodenite etc sound?
In a Technic History film, we should hear Merseians speaking Eriau and Ythrians speaking Planha with subtitles but, even when they speak the Emperor's Anglic, which we hear as English, the sound effects department should make them sound alien, deep resonance from Merseians and trilling speech from Ythrians. Every species should sound different and should be identifiable by voice alone.
1 comment:
Hi, Paul!
Ha! What I recalled was how off planet civilian visitors to Imhotep showed an EXAGGERATED fear of falling. Which I'm sure would have been true of ME as well if I had had the good fortune of visiting the planet.
I think a planet with a gravity 30 percent greater than Terra's would be as much as humans could stand without needing artificial assistance. And not so high as to prevent humans from being able to reproduce!
I have noted with interest how lowland Tigeries visiting the higher altitudes of Imhotep where human can breathe without difficult might have oxygills surgically installed so they too use such an atmosphere. I thought that a very neat and plausible touch. And it would allow Poul Anderson to more easily have a Tigery character play a prominent roled in THE GAME OF EMPIRE.
Altho not shown or directly stated, it's plain the reverse kind of oxygills could be installed in humans whose business, official, civilian, commercial, etc., might take them to the lowlands where the Tigeries lived. It would be so much easier, for stays lasting longer than a standard day or so, if humans too could breath the atmosphere.
I agree with what you said about how non humans in SF or F films should SOUND like non humans even when speaking English or the Emperor's Anglic. I've suggested that any film producer/director interested in making such a film would do well to first try one of Poul Anderson's short stories, partly as a "trainer" film.
Sean
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